Desperation no 27
Rapturing Faith by Rapturing Love
May 25, 2016
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor
Sunday
we spoke from paragraphs 45 through 49 and saw how the love for a Father drove him to
desperation, and did everything possible to get Brother Branham to pray for his
boy as brother Branham said in paragraph 47 It throws it into a state of desperation. See? You must
come, and when you're desperate, then
God's going to listen to you. But if
you're just slothful, you don't care whether He does or not, well then, that's
different. You say you do, but it takes desperation to do it.
In
paragraph 49 brother Branham said, "Now, the Word plainly states (if you
want to put this down) in Galatians 5 and 6, that faith worketh
by love. See? Faith worketh by love.
And the only way that you can have
faith, is have love first. Because after all, faith is love's
incentive. Incentive, that's exactly what--what faith is, is an incentive to love. Now, if you don't have love you can't have faith.
See?
Notice
how brother Branham points out in Galatians 5:6 that Paul teaches us that "Faith
worketh by Love". Paul said, "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh
by love."
The word for worketh is a
Greek word energeo
and it means energizes.
Therefore our Faith
is energized by Love is what Paul is saying.
Therefore we focused our thoughts
on this love and how Love energizes our Faith.
Therefore, This evening I want to
show how that Faith and Love are inseparable, and I believe that Rapturing
Faith will be made possible only by receiving a rapturing Love.
Faith
is energized by Love, therefore, Faith is love but only in a passive form. Faith
itself is passive but when energized by Love it becomes active Faith. And as I
said, if faith is energized by Love, then as brother Branham said in paragraph 49 "Now, if you don't have love you can't have faith.
See?"
Therefore, Love is the active form of Faith, it is faith in action.
Therefore you can say you have faith but unless there is an expression of that
faith, that faith remains passive, or dormant, and thus passive faith is a lifeless
faith, and no faith at all. It is only a mental or intellectual comprehension that
we call faith.
Notice that William Branham said "Now, if you don't have love you can't have faith."
Therefore Rapturing
Love is a prerequisite to have Rapturing Faith.
You say, "o come on brother,
where did brother Branham say that?" Well, that is a good question. But if
I show you , will you believe it? Because after all he said, "say what's
on the tapes, and only what's on the tapes". And I Stand by that .
Therefore
I am going to show you where Brother Branham said that.
From
his sermon, Beyond the curtain of time
61-0305 P:25 he said, " Never let me
compromise with the Word. Let me stay straight on the Word. I don't care
what anyone else does, Lord. Let me press on to that beautiful, joyful place."
I am more convinced
than ever in my life, that it will take perfect love to enter that place.
There was no jealousy, no tiredness, no sickness, no
old age, no death, only supreme beauty and joy. (Hallelujah!) Whatever you do, lay aside
everything else until you get perfect love. Get to where you
can love everybody, even every enemy. No matter if the plane is rocking, the
lightning is flashing, or the guns of the enemy are upon you, these things
do not matter; get perfect love. If you're not saved, accept Jesus Christ
as your Saviour, now. If you have not been baptized in water, be baptized now.
If you have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, receive It now. Press
on in that perfect love, which will take you to that beautiful and joyful place
beyond the curtain of time. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Amen.
So
that ought to nail it down. That means it is not doctrine that will put you in,
it is Love.
As the Apostle Paul taught us in 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God
And even our
growing up into Him, or coming to the place where we are conformed to his image
is all dependent upon our state of Love as we see in Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Therefore you can see that we
cannot even begin to grow up into Christ until we begin to speak the truth in
Love. Not just speaking truth, because you can speak it from envy and you can
speak the truth with strife, and it will produce only negative results, but
speaking the truth in love will allow us to begin to come into an expression of
God and He is Love.
And in James 2:5 we read that even our
inheritance in the Kingdom is dependent upon our Love For our Father, "Hearken, my
beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom which he hath
promised to them that love him"
Therefore as our being adopted comes
as a result of our expressing our Love for the Father, and being always about
His business. That is the law of inheritance. And unless you are the right kind
of son, you are still a member of the family but without inheritance. And the
right kind of son said, " I always do that which pleases my father."
And
Peter tells us how our love for Christ is to be expressed in 1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned (unpretentious) love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Notice again the promise we have
from our Saviour if we love him.
James 1:12 Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him.
And
brother Branham said in paragraph 45 And
you're not fit to live until you're fit to die.
Therefore it is time to change
our attitudes and begin to reflect the Love of God that is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost because God is Love, and we express our love for God by
what we do with his Word.
1 Corinthians 8:3 But
if any man love God, the same is known of him.
1 John 2:5 But whoso
keeps his word, in him verily is the
love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him
So
get back to reading your Bible, and believing what you read, because our Love
is perfected by keeping His Word.
1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him
not
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another.
1 John 4:12 No
man hath seen God at any time If we love one another,
God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to
us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that
we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in
this world.
1 John 4:18 There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:19 We
love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:20 If a
man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:21 And
this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother.
1 John 4:7 Beloved,
let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God.
1 John 4:8 He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
#3)
Love is an expression, it is an action. and Love
is never passive, it is always active, because Love is the expression or
manifestation of Faith.
1
Corinthians 13:13 And now there remaineth faith, hope, love,
these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Faith is the revelation, it is the
access, it is the foundation, it is the starting point, but when Faith truly
takes a hold upon a man, it begins to move that man into an action. And Hope is
the catalyst that begins that faith into action.
Faith in itself is a passive thing, but if it is a
true genuine faith, then it will begin to move the person who possesses that
Faith toward the goal of that Faith. And hope is that thing that causes man to begin
to move forward with faith. Faith is the power, but Hope is the
steam that is released by that power, and Love is the outward expression or action,
the
outward expression of that revelation,
Galatians 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
(right-wise-ness) by faith. 6 For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
So we see that Faith without Love
remains dormant, and passive. And we see that Faith is motivated by Love. It is
energized by Love. Therefore, love is greater than faith because it can move
our faith from a passive faith into an active faith.
That
is why the Apostle Paul tell us in Ephesians chapter one that after we (as a church) have received the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit, then our Faith will begin to become manifest in a
way that it will outwardly show in our love for the brethren , and at this
time, then we will be ready to receive the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in
the Knowledge of God.
Show
us the Father 59-0419E P:71 The
thing to do is know that you're coming to fulfill a promise that God made you.
There's going to be thousands of people praying for you. And when you come by
this line, when we pray, lay hands on you, just as soon as hands is laid upon
you, you've just like rising them up out of the water of being baptized. You
have done something that God give you a promise what would happen. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. You go right out of this building
testifying that you're saved. What if you go out of the building saying that,
"Well, I don't know." Then you're not saved. But God will make
your body obey your confession. See? And He's the High Priest of our confession. Before you can be healed,
you have to confess it first. You have to believe that you are healed. And then
when you believe you're healed, God makes your body obey your
confession. So now when you come by here, just let it be
settled; say, "God, this is Your command. I believe I'm healed."
Attitude
and who is God? 50-0815 P:35 And
when the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is here to inspire you, remember, God will make your body come into your confession. If you
say you're a drunkard, and want a drink. Don't worry, you'll soon be one. If
you say you're a sinner, and want to sin, you'll be right into it. If you say you're a Christian and believe it all along,
God will bring... Your testimony will bring you right into it.
If you believe in healing, and believe that God has healed you, confess it, and
God will make your body obey your confession,
for He's the High Priest of your
confession; setting at the right-hand of the Father now with His own Blood
to make intercessions for any confession upon anything that He died for. And He
died to rid sin. And sickness is the result of sin. "He was wounded for
our transgressions, with His stripes we are healed." Remember that. Have
faith. Don't waiver. Stand on it.
Message
of grace 61-0827 P:97 Now, there's only be one thing different in Him
being here this morning than He was amongst the people at Galilee, that would
be His Own body of flesh, His corporal body; because that was raised up (You
believe that?), sets at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ever living to make
intercessions for our confession. Remember, He cannot do one
thing for us until first we accept Him, and believe that He has, and say
that He has, for He is a High Priest that may... He's a High Priest making intercessions
upon our confession.
And our Love If we have God-Life
must be God-Love, and not the kind of love the world thinks they have, or the
church thinks they have, " I love
you as long as you agree with me, but the minute you disagree with me, I stop
loving you and will hate you".
1 John 3:23 And
this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
John 15:12 This
is my commandment, That ye love one
another, as (in the same
manner) as I have loved you.
And how is that? unconditional
love. No conditions to our Love, we love because we are love. Just as God
loves, because He is love. If we are His offspring, filled with God-Life, and
are being conformed to the Image of the first born Son who came forth in the
image of the Father, then how could we not Love like God loved us. And that
means while we were yet in our sin, he loved us and sent His first born son to
die for us.
John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And Jesus was our example of how
to do what John just said, because before He could die on the cross and lay
down his life for us on the cross, he had to first die to Jesus, He had to die
to self in the Garden of Gethsemane and he showed this willing to die to self
when he said,, "Father although my will would be that somehow I can escape my
crucifixion, yet nevertheless, I will set aside my will that Thy will be done".
And brother Branham said in his
sermon, Souls in prison now 63-1110M
P:94 I've told you the Truth. I've hated to do it, not hating
because I don't want to do what God tells me to, but I love you. I
don't want to hurt you, so what am I going to do? But pure Divine love will drive you to
do it. Jesus even prayed to dodge the cross. "Is it possible that the cup should pass," said,
"nevertheless,
not My will, Thine."
Notice
he said, I love you. I don't want to hurt you, so what am I going to do? But pure Divine love will drive you to do it.
You see that is what the Apostle
Paul said in Ephesians
4: Speaking the truth in love that we may
grow up into Him in all thing.
And how do we really know when we
love one another?
1 John 5:2 By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Because that is the example that
Jesus set before us.
John 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the
Father; and as the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do Arise, let us go hence.
1 John 2:15 Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
And if we truly Love one another,
our Love will demand Fellowship.
God's provided way fellowship 60-0709 P:31 And what made
God provide this way? Because God is love, and love demands fellowship. Love demands fellowship,
like the young boy when he meets the young lady.
And if
the two are in love they can't hardly stand to be apart from each other.So as
brother Branham said, love demands
fellowship.
Notice even Jesus said the
same... If you love me then I will come to you and we will fellowship together.
John 14:23 Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man
love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him.
1 John 3:11 For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death
unto life, because we love the brethren He
that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another.
In his
sermon, Fellowship 60-0611B P:18 brother
Branham said, "Now, fellowship
comes by love. And love requires fellowship. If you love your wife,
you've just got to get with her and talk with her. If you love your
friend, you've got to get with him and talk to him. And if you love God,
there's got to be a basis for fellowship. You cannot have complete
fellowship and livelihood without these agreements. You cannot be married
without an agreement. You cannot have a wife without some kind of an
agreement. And that agreement is based upon your vow. You cannot have
fellowship with God without coming to God's agreement. And there's a basic
thing for fellowship, and that's the Blood, the Blood only. It's been God's
way from the beginning, and it will be till the end. The only place of
fellowship is through the Blood."
And the shedding of the blood of God's
first born Son showed His great Love for
us as we see in John 3:16 For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. 18 He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. 19 And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
So if
you love the truth you can't stay away from fellowship around that Truth, but
if you don't have that Love for the Truth then you will avoid fellowshipping
around the Truth. And don't you think it won't be the same way when it comes to
the Rapture? Only perfect Love will get you into that fellowship and gathering
of the saints.
The
Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that
day: and not to me only, but unto all
them also that love his appearing.
End
time evangelism 62-0603 P:108 But you don't tremble when you really believe.
You rejoice. Amen. "All those that love His appearing..."As I
said someone constantly telling me, sending me letters, "Brother Branham, you scare
people to death, telling them the end time is coming."
Scare the Church? My, that's the most glorious thing could happen, the coming
of the Lord, the end time. I wish it was right now. Sure. Why, it's the most
glorious thing I ever thought of to meet my Lord. This old robe of flesh
I'll drop and rise and seize the everlasting prize, go back to a young man
again, and live forever with my Lord, with all my people? Why, my, I
can't think of struggling through this sin and trial, and, oh, aches and pains
in this old pesthouse here. To leave this thing and go to a crown of righteousness,
why, it's the most glorious thing I ever heard. Like the Apostle Paul said,
"I've fought a good fight; I've finished my
course; I've kept my faith, henceforth there's a... I've kept the faith, and
henceforth there's a crown of righteousness laid up for me, that the righteous
Lord will give me in that day; not only me, but all those that love His
appearing." Not believes His appearing,
but loves His appearing, such a joy to know He's coming... Certainly. Yes, sir.
And how
we are looking forward to the fellowship with the saints. I don't know about
you, but I've got hundreds of friends all over the world, and we won't have to
be separated anymore because of distance, but we will all gather together and
fellowship around this word forever. That makes we go to locations that are hot
and humid, and where they have snakes and poisonous mosquitoes, and where the
altitude is so high you can hardly get a breath in 30 seconds of time, and you
struggle for each breath you take. But to assemble around the Word and
fellowship with the brethren, o my. It makes you do things you wouldn't think
of doing otherwise.
In fact
that is what Br. Branham told brother Vayle. Br. Vayle had went to br. Branham
because he didn't see the same sweet nature in himself that he saw in brother
Branham, and he said brother Branham would you seek a vision from God for me. I
don't have love and I want it so bad, and brother Branham said, o Br. Lee you
have love but just don't know it, And Lee said, I don't understand, and brother
Branham said "Do you do things for people because of your love for God
that you wouldn't normally do? And he said, why of course brother Branham. And
brother Branham said, "that is what Love is brother Vayle"
So we
go places that in your right mind you would never want to go, not because you
like to travel, not because you like to see the sites, I means in some places
what sites are there to see? But you go because you do what you can for God's children. You love God so much
that you automatically love his children as your own. Therefore you go because
you love His children. And brother Branham taught us there is a way to have
fellowship. And it comes through Loving the brethren.
And in
his sermon, Way to have fellowship 55-1009 P:33 he
said, "There's
where it is tonight. God
has to give it. Then love produces a fellowship. Now, when God said back
there... The day that sin had separated that Divine love, God told Adam and Eve
not to eat these certain fruits, and they did, and sin brought separation. And
sin by separation brought hatred, malice, strife, envy. Is that right?
What happened? They separated from Divine love. And when you separate from Divine
love, then you can't overlook your brother's mistakes no more. You
got to bawl him out for it. That's right. You can't overlook sister's
mistakes no more. Because you've got away from that Divine part, that love part.
But if you really love the Lord Jesus, if sister or brother, does something to
you, "Oh, well, that's all right, they didn't mean to do it." That's the kind of love that
Christ had, "Father, forgive
them; they don't know what they're doing."
O My, I hope you can see what
he's talking about. We find fault not because the fault is there or is not
there, but we find fault because we are the ones lacking the right kind of
love.
1 Peter 4:8 And above
all things have fervent
love among yourselves: (And fervent love is love without ceasing, there's
no end to it. And here is how you will know when you have that fervent love.) for love shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the
gift,(what Gift? The gift of Love) even so minister
the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And
the Lord make you to increase and abound
in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
John 13:34 A new
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
1 Peter 2:17 Honor all men Love the brotherhood Fear God Honor the king.
2 John 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as
though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the
beginning, that we love one another.
2 John 1:6 And this
is love, that we walk after his
commandments This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the
beginning, ye should walk in it.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
Now,
let's examine this fellowship. Because what is this word fellowship any way?
Brother Branham said, fellowship is
two fellows in one ship.
In other words, the people were
together. You cannot have fellowship staying away from the people.
Now, remember, brother Branham
taught us that the Pillar of Fire appeared three times for Three Exoduses. With
Moses, Paul and William Branham. Therefore what we are talking about, if it
took place in the first exodus, it must repeat in the other 2 exoduses.
From
the message Ever Present Water
61-0723M 87, Brother Branham said, Now, we find out that, along this road,
after they got like this, they come to a place of Horeb. And H-o-r-e-b, Horeb,
then we find out... Let's break that name down. That's where the name
"Horeb" means, a "dry place" or a "desert." And when we get out of fellowship with one another in the
church, and out of fellowship with the Holy Spirit, it brings us to a dry
place, a desert, nothing alive, everything got stickers on it.
See, a desert, a little piece of cactus with that sticker on it. Did you know
what that is? That's a precious little
tender leaf that hasn't had no water; it's just wound itself up so tight till
it's a sticker. And when you see
somebody like that, maybe it's a precious soul that could been watered right,
would've been a tender little leaf or something. But instead of that, it's wound itself up till it's a sticker, just
punching at everything, you know, finding fault. Only thing it needs is just water. That's
all. It just needs a revival, or a breaking up, a refreshing from the Lord.
it'll unfold its little self, if you'll just put it to the water. 89 But that's
where them who live in that place has to suffer with the conditions of that
place. And those who desire to live in that kind of an atmosphere of where
everything's just punching and fussing, and quarreling and stewing like that,
well, you'll just live under that atmosphere; that's all. But we don't have to live there; it's not necessary for
us to stay there.
And you don't have to be that
way, and you don't have to live under them conditions. There is something you can do
about it. You know the people who feel the sorriest for themselves are
the people who are the most self centered. Brother Branham taught us the way up is down and the way down is up.
He said if you have a selfish heart then give everything away. If you are
feeling low, then find someone to help.
II Corinthians 8:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I want you to
understand the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2 How that
in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep
poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. 3 For to [their] power, I
bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4
Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and [take upon
us] the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And this they did, not
as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the
will of God.
These people gave beyond their
ability to give, but they had to plead with Paul to take their offering of
support for the people of Jerusalem. They were not thinking of themselves, they
were thinking of those who were worse off.
I heard a top executive of a very
large corporation one time say, when I am
feeling depressed, I get up from my desk and go try to help someone. I go out
onto the street and find someone to help. Then when I can see there are people
in a worse condition than I am, and I can help them, it takes my mind off of my
own troubles and I see how insignificant my own problems are.
Try it sometime, I know it works.
What you all need to cure your blues is a good tour of Poland, or Peru or Africa
or the Philippines. Or just go down to East Walnut street or Gilbert Avenue if
you dare, and see how those people live. Just hanging around the streets,
nothing to do but watch cars go by. Such a sad condition, and yet they don't
have to live that way, but to them there is no way out. You can't go down there
and tell those people they don't have to live that way, that's all they know
how to do. But Christians don't live like that. No matter how poor, yet we
have hope. No matter how rejected, yet we have hope. And hope maketh not
ashamed.
Now the word for fellowship in
the Greek is the Word [koinonia {koy-nohn-ee'-ah}] and it means 1) Fellowship, association, community,
communion, joint participation, sharing what one has in anything,
participation, intimacy:
Without it you will dry up in
your Christian experience. Without fellowship, you will begin to find
fault, you will begin to pick at and make fun of. I knew a person once
who said, he liked to rent videos just to sit around and make fun of the people
in them. What a awful thing to do.
Now, you don't have to live in an
atmosphere like that, you can change it. But you can't have fellowship without
first having love. If you don't believe me try it some time. Go to some
church where they despise what you stand for. Go to a Pentecostal church and
tell them you believe God sent a prophet William Branham and tell them what you
believe, and see what happens. Then try to fellowship with them? You can't. How can two walk together lest they be agreed.
Try it in this message. Go somewhere that doesn't believe like you do and tell
them you believe Brother Vayle is a man of God. You can feel the hatred. Try it
on the internet. Go to one of the chat rooms and tell them what you believe and
one by one they leave until you are left there alone. I know, I've experienced
it firsthand. So you must have love
before you can fellowship.
In fact brother Branham said in
His Message
called Fellowship
60-0611B E-18 Now, fellowship
comes by love. And love requires
fellowship. If you love your wife, you've just got to get with her and talk
with her. If you love your friend, you've got to get with him and talk to him.
God's Provided Way of Fellowship
60-0709 P:31
And what made God provide this way? Because God is love, and love demands
fellowship. Love demands fellowship,...
And if you cannot love your
brother, then you do not get together with him, it's just that simple. No love,
no fellowship. and we find that people do not understand the Love of God
because they think we can't have fellowship because we don't believe alike. I
used to think that too. I was under the illusion that my children shouldn't go
to one of these youth camps because those people don't believe like we do, and
that is wrong.
And
that's the problem with so many people today. They don't take the blood of
Jesus into their fellowship. And then they hear something they don't like and
they get all puffed up and hurt feelings.
And pretty soon the devil has you
out of fellowship and they leave church over some little insignificant
disagreement and watch their family go downhill right then.
Brother Branham said you need to
carry the blood into your fellowshipping. Instead of getting hurt, you cover it
with the blood. When someone says something personal, cover it with the blood.
When someone gets a bit nozy, or pries into something you might consider
personal? Cover it with the blood. Don't get angry, don't get uppity, but cover
it with the blood. And you can't cover it with the blood if your own motives
are wrong. Because Love covers a
multitude of sin.
Where
I think Pentecost failed 55-1111 P:76 And I believe today that we've
denominated ourselves; we've been indifferent; and we've treated our
neighbors indifferent. Sometime we've hollered, "Well, the old cold,
formal Baptist, and this Pentecostal group, they belong to the temple down
here; the Four-Square, they ain't got nothing. And this one over here, why,
he's the Assembly of God; he ain't got nothing. This is the Jesus Name Only,
and he ain't got nothing." And one wants to do this and one wants to do
that, and just fussing... And brother, every one of them has got the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, or at least they claim it, and the same evidence to
prove it. That's right. Well, what we need today is a consecrated life,
where you have to speak nothing, God speaks in your place and He proves just
what you are. That's right. The Blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from all
unrighteousness, then we got fellowship one with another, the Blood making us
clean and holy. We live so that we could walk up to any
denomination, church, or anything, say, "Good morning, my brother."
Not a hypocrite, he'd know it, but with a true heart, and say, "How
goes it with you and God today, my dear brother?" Like that, and walk
along, talk with him, and have fellowship with him, that's the way.
That's when you're getting salty. Now, you can't do that, just impersonating.
If you do it, you're a hypocrite. That's all. If you do it just because you
know it's a line of duty, you don't do it at all. Stay before God until it's
in your heart to do that, then you're coming right with God.
Solomon said in Proverbs 10:11 ¶ The mouth of a
righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the
wicked. 12 ¶ Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
13 ¶ In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is
for the back of him that is void of understanding. 14 ¶ Wise men lay up
knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
And
the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:1 ¶ If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man
also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind (attitude) be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Jesus gave us a commandment when
he said in, John 13:34 A new commandment I
give unto you, That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another,
as (in the same way or the same manner as) I have loved you. 13 Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:17 These
things I command you, that ye love one another.
Paul taught this same principle when
he said,
Romans 13:8 Owe
no man anything, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt
not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not
covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in
this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as
thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to
his neighbour: therefore love is the
fulfilling of the law.
I Thessalonians 4:9 ¶ But as touching brotherly love ye need
not that I write unto you: for ye
yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
Peter
taught it, I Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that ye love one
another with a pure heart fervently:
And John the Apostle of Love
brings this to our attention when he said, I John 3:11 ¶ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another. 12
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore
slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Now, notice, the slaying was not
the evil thing, his wrong doctrine was and because of wrong doctrine he slew his
brother. That's
why John continues by saying, 13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14 ¶ We
know that we have passed from death unto
life, because we love the brethren. He
that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Ephesians 1:5 In
love He has predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; His love not only
predestinates us, and covers us by His blood.
I Corinthians 1:8 Who
shall also establish you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 ¶ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye
be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Philippians 1:3 ¶ I
thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine
for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from
the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
Now, the opposite of fellowship is
being cut off from fellowship., and we know according to our understanding
of neurosis that before a person is fully and totally neurotic, the last thing
they do is to cut themselves off from fellowship. Because once they become
engulfed in phobia and fear, then they cut themselves off, and in doing so they
cut off life.
Remember
how we showed you the first attribute of neurosis is anxiety, worrying about
what might happen. Then that leads to compulsion, trying to fix the problem,
and then that leads to obsession which takes place when you get so fixated on
fixing that problem that the problem actually possesses you, and that leads to
phobia, and fear has a penalty, it causes you to stop doing what you used to do and that leads
to depression and your depression and dissatisfaction leads to disassociation,
which is cutting yourself off from fellowship. Then what happens, step 7 you
become a total neurotic. And you are converted, you are changed, and you are
gone. And we've seen that Word come to pass exactly like I've preached it right
here in this congregation.
Ephesians 4:17 ¶
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their
mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated (that means cut
off from fellowship) from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
89-2 Ephesian Church Age -
Church Age Book Cpt 3 A few moments ago I mentioned that
John understood what it was to love God.
That great apostle of love would certainly see it when the church began to lose that first love of God. In I John 5:3, he says, "For
this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (His Word)." One little deviation from that
Word was a step away from Christ. People say they love God, they go to church,
they even shout and rejoice and sing and have a great emotional time. But when
it is all over, watch and see if they are in that WORD,
walking in it, living in it. If
they go through all the other and then don't walk in that Word, they can say
they love God but their lives tell another story. I wonder if John didn't
see a lot of that before he died; people
saying they loved God but not obeying His Word.
Invasion of the USA
54-0509 213 You take a little bitty girl, little
bitty boy, put them out here, let them live with somebody... You take a man...
I can take my boy, let him be out for a day with somebody; let me come in, I
can almost tell you who he's been with. Certainly. Watch, that environment, that spirit catches him. You go into a
church, where the people all...
Go
to a church that believes a certain doctrine and pretty soon the people will
become like an exclusive club and you got to believe it our way or we won't
have fellowship with any who doesn't believe it the way we see it. And I've
seen whole churches where they have departed from what it means to be a
Christian, and preety soon the Spirit of the Lord has departed. "Ichabod".
Brother Branham in his sermon, Reconciliation
Through Fellowship 56-0120 E-21 where he said, "So we find out that man must come
back to his Maker. Then when Adam realized that sin had separated him, he became an alien, a wanderer away from
God, without hope, wandering around in the garden, knowing that he was separated from God, knew that he didn't have fellowship no more; it made him a wanderer. And man to this
day, when the sin problem, he still becomes a wanderer. He will go to one church awhile; he longs to
have fellowship. He will join the Methodists, or the Baptists, or the
Pentecostal, or some church. He will go in there, and he will find imperfection
in the church among the people; he will
leave this church and take his letter and go to another church. He will go
from church to church; he's a wanderer yet, away from God.
But if we get so filled with the
Love of God, then that is all we will see as well. Like the old man that
brother Branham said was so filled with God that is all he saw was God.
Let us pray..